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SC order Apr 2 on time plea for demolishing BGMEA Bhaban

BGMEA Bhaban in Hatirjheel Lake. File Photo

National Desk : The Supreme Court will pass its order on April 2 on a petition filed by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA) seeking time for demolishing the BGMEA Bhaban in the Hatirjheel Lake.

After hearing an undertaking submitted by the apex body of the country’s garment sector, a four-member Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, also asked it to place the bond afresh inserting a few lines.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the SC asked the BGMEA to give an undertaking that it would not file any more time petition over demolishing its building.

Kamrul said the SC bench asked for amending the undertaking with some insertions that the BGMEA will demolish its building within one year and if the authorities concerned do not comply with the court order, the Board of Directors will be responsible for it.

On March 5 last, the BGMEA authorities filed a one-year time petition with the apex court as its seven months’ time granted in September, 2017 by the SC for reducing the building to ruins expired in March.

The BGMEA lost its last legal battle to keep its structure intact on the scenic waterbody as the Appellate Division rejected its plea seeking review of its judgment that upheld an earlier High Court verdict, ordering demolition of the structure.

In 2011, the High Court ordered demolition of the 16-storey building as it was constructed in defiance of relevant laws, calling it a ‘cancer’ in the lake.

The BGMEA later filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division against the High Court judgment, but the apex court on June 2, 2016, dismissed the plea as well as asked the RMG producers to demolish its headquarters at once and at its own cost.